Of Monsters and Men
by brightneeBee
Summary: A dream in a memory, a memory in a dream. The branches rustled gently overhead, and the breeze drifted through the trees, carrying with it the hint of something distinctly floral and saccharin. The only sounds were the chirping of newborn birds and the laughter of two young people. Finn/OFC.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing. I just enjoy writing fanfiction. Please don't sue me.

A/N: First attempt at a VampireDiaries - Originals fic. Finn/OFC.

If you enjoy it and want to review or PM me, feel free. If you hate it and want to flame or PM me, feel free.

No regrets...

Chapter One

A dream in a memory, a memory in a dream.

The ancient white oaks separating men and beast stood tall and strong, creating a canopy of vibrant green leaves, sunlight peeking through to pockmark the forest floor and give life to wild berry bushes and flowering vervain. The branches rustled gently overhead, and the breeze drifted through the trees, carrying with it the hint of something distinctly floral and saccharin. The only sounds were the chirping of newborn birds and the laughter of two young people.

She felt like an intruder as she watched her own memory play through, a soft glow about the forest as she strolled through the underbrush, not a single thorn catching the soft lace and supple silk of her black dress.

A young woman with long, warm brown hair and deep amber eyes flitted between the trees, glancing over her shoulder with a most brilliant smile. She looked incredibly happy traipsing through the forest, followed by a young man with dark hair and his own hazel eyes glittering with joy, as he chased the girl. Both of them seemed to be in their own shared world, just the two of them. They were alone in nature, free to be themselves away from the disapproval of any who would frown upon them.

"For one so tall, you are terribly slow!" called the young woman, hair glowing with a halo of rose gold in the patches of sunshine.

The young man laughed, full of heart and warmth, "For that comment, I shall surely make you pay!"

"You'll have to catch me first!"

The young man increased his speed, and lunged for the young woman, but she jumped out of his reach before even his fingertips could graze her arm. With a gleeful shriek, the girl raced behind a tree, peeking out to see him get to his feet. With another giggling shriek, she sprinted off through the forest, and down an embankment. The young man followed chase towards the rushing river, catching her around the middle, eventually.

They fell together into the damp ground at the edge of the water, laughing as the man turned her in his arms, holding her close.

The breeze parted the lush branches above, allowing them to bask in the warmth of the sun and watch it reflect off the river, like gems catching light. Covered in mud, sticks and leaves sticking in their hair, the young couple inched closer and closer until their lips finally brushed together.

"I despise Finn, but you were never more beautiful to him than in that moment," said a man, appearing next to the woman, as she watched the young couple on the river bank share their first kiss. "Mother was furious to know he had been sneaking off to meet you in the woods. Father forbade the entire village from even looking at you."

"I remember," she replied, turning away from the young couple, and walking back through the woods. "Mikael even came to my hut with a warning that my secret would be revealed to the elders if I did not heed their request. I was told to leave, or be hunted."

"And you listened," said Kol, his dark blue eyes tinged with sadness. "Finn may not have remembered you, but he spent centuries trying to find you."

"That ridiculous sireling managed to stem the pain, just as Tatia proved a balm to Elijah and Klaus," she responded, quietly, and then she sighed. "Pity what happened to to them both."

"I never truly understood how mother knew Tatia was a doppelganger," quipped Kol, a small sparkle returning to his eyes. "You told her."

"I may have bestowed a few parting gifts before I returned to the moors. It was after Henrik's death, as you well remember."

"My brother and you always did match perfectly. Complete opposites. Self-righteous, and ruthless."

"I thank you for the compliment," the woman offered him the ghost of a smile, full of sorrow and regret, turning back to watch the tenderness in each kiss between the young couple. It wrenched painfully in her chest. "I never truly stayed away. All these centuries, I have been so close, and a world away. Enough has happened in the last thousand years that the spell was weakened, and when Esther truly died, it broke. I have spent enough time traveling through dreams. I will no longer."

"Cursed to spend eternity in ignorant misery of each other."

She nodded, chewing her lower lip, "A far cry from eternal bliss."

"He knew?"

"Yes," she breathed, walking away from the sight of herself with Finn, knowing that the dream would fade, and she would be faced with cold, damp air and endless darkness, and it was beginning to become too much to withstand. "I was preparing to transcend him. We were to live until the end of days, together. I only knew what the Fates wished to share, thousands of years before your time, when the scholars believed in the stars and prayed to the gods in temples of glory. Before I was reborn."

The woods surrounding them faded away, replaced by the gloomy solarium of the Strix coven. The pool of obsidian water and thriving lily pads beckoned ominously, chilling her down to the bone. Kol followed her to the altar, following her gaze back to the murky depths of the little pond, a glimpse of a slumbering beauty at the bottom. Her brown hair glistened and shimmered around her face, and she looked far more peaceful in her pseudo-death than in life. It was as if she had simply fallen into a deep, restful slumber, which was more or less what had happened, if one didn't pay attention to the intricate iron dagger sheathed firmly in her heart.

After a respectful silence, the woman breathed and gazed back at Kol from the ancient tome nestled amidst herbs and relics, "I called you here for a reas-"

"You're here," he said, softly, taking in the cracked glass hiding her from the world, cloaking her from notice. "In New Orleans."

"Courtesy of one of Elijah's many lovers."

"Aya?"

"Yes."

There was a touch of disdain in her gentle voice, as she flipped through the pages she had written herself, so many years ago.

The dream progressed through the ritual and inevitable deaths. The harsh moment of realization as Davina Claire managed to break the sire bond between Klaus and his vampire bloodline, slowed to a stop, as both Kol and his ancient companion gazed upon the young witch with individual mixtures of emotions. No one noticed the rumblings of magic coming from the glass casket at the very bottom of the pool.

Time resumed again, and Kol turned back to the coffin, as the glass cracked more, like webs spreading as both brothers' blood danced and curled downwards to fill the fissures, like ink on paper. The pale olive flesh of the woman trapped below soon became dotted with droplets of crimson, and as they traveled up the slender lines of her body, leaving trails of red in their wake, Kol was filled with a sense of anticipation. The combined blood followed a preordained course to the woman's mouth and nose, until every last drop resided inside her, continuing a journey to her heart.

"So, we remain connected, you and I," came the echo of Elijah's voice as the veil between realms faded and reality whirled around the two observers. "In spite of everything you have done. I can't let you hurt my family. And you can't hurt me more than you already have."

Kol walked around the room, watching the scene play out, while the woman found the spell she sought. Gathering the dried herbs, she returned to the ledge of the pool, tossing the herbs into the murky water, refusing to allow herself even a glimpse of what was happening. Instead, she looked to Kol, beckoning him to her side.

"I stood by you, Elijah," responded Aya, devastated in her defeat. "All of us were willing to die for you, and how did you repay it? Betrayal. Abandonment."

Kol took the woman's hand, chanting along with her, and ignoring the tremble in her fingers, the tears welling in her eyes. Looking back at Elijah, he could tell why she refused to watch. Elijah, taken aback by Aya's accusations, still looked upon his protege with the haunting regret of a long ago lover, and he understood the painful longing; she felt it for Finn, desperate to find her way back to the love that started it all. Kol would know that look anywhere, for it was the same longing, sorrowful feeling he experienced watching Davina from the cold existence of death.

"You were not forsaken," was Elijah's reverberating reply, and the fingers curled in Kol's hand clenched unforgivingly as they continued the chant. "Yes, I failed you. For this, I will never forgive myself. I cannot forgive… This."

"If your life were chained to a man who left you despite your devotion, what choice would you have but to break free? So… End this."

Wherever they were in relation to the present passing of time, Kol had no idea, but, like fragile glass, the room began to splinter and crack as the pressure of magic began to build.

"End it, Elijah! Or I'll take that gun and kill you just to finally be free!"

The glass of the coffin started breaking apart more thoroughly, water crashing down and dislodging the stake just enough with the force of gravity. The power drew heavy around Kol and the woman both, electric and suffocating, dark and light, all combining to return her to the slumbering body. There was a sense of danger in the air, an urgency that weighed on them both. It had to be done any moment, or there would never be another chance.

Hayley ran Aya through from behind, piercing the viperous vampire's heart, and killing her instantly, permanently. And the resounding silence that followed, lasted mere minutes.

"That's more mercy than Jackson ever got," was the only sound in the room, her remark thick with an underlying growl of grief.

Then the realm in which Kol had been summoned, the one breaking around them, erupted.

The spelled glass of the coffin imploded, caving in fully. Water crashed down, dislodging the dagger in her heart just enough with the force of gravity to pull it from her heart. She disappeared, pulled back into her body, as Kol was thrown into the beyond with the ancestors. The woman woke with a gasp, inhaling water and herbs, clawing at her naked flesh as the lingering magic connected with her own, burning through her body, and reverberating through her veins.

Her magic rippled out like a shockwave as the last of the enchantments on her broke, shaking the very foundations of the entire French Quarter and beyond. The surface of the pool had merely shuddered minutes before, and then turned violent, roiling with pure, untainted, limitless power. And then she emerged, breaking through the water as she wrenched the dagger from her chest, coughing and gasping for her first breath in almost two centuries. The air filled her lungs, and she stumbled for a few steps before collapsing.

Something else pulsed in the air, affecting Elijah and the woman already on her knees. He winced, and she whimpered, both clutching their heads as a force ripped through their minds, burrowing deep and then disappearing completely, a momentary flash of pain and then nothing. They were both left reeling for a moment, a sense of confusion and lightheadedness settling over them. The air in the room shifted, and emotions tried to claw to the surface.

"What the f-"

"Language," warned Elijah, calmly wrapping his expensive about the naked woman's shoulders. "It seems we have discovered the power source to Aya's coven. Hayley, allow me to introduce you to a very old acquaintance...A very old, very powerful witch."

The dagger clattered to the ground, and the woman shivered on the stone floor. Heavy breaths fell from her purple lips as she looked up at the two people standing in various stages of surprise and calm intrigue. Hayley watched the way Elijah looked at the trembling woman, as if in the presence of something extremely precious and significant - something to be cherished and revered. It was similar to the way he looked at her when they were alone, yet extremely different. There was no love in his eyes, only appreciation.

"How old are we talking, Elijah? And how powerful?" questioned Hayley, eyeing the thin fingers clutching his jacket closed around her, and the gaunt, haunting look in her eyes. "She doesn't look like she could sw-"

Elijah, unstartled, caught Hayley before she crumpled to the ground, neck broken. He laid her gently on the floor, giving the woman an exasperated look. She took his offered hand, and struggled to her feet, experiencing the echoing remnants of her centuries long slumber, and the first twinges of hunger stirring deep in her center. Leaning into Elijah, she glanced back to Hayley's unconscious form, and with a large effort on her part to not faint from the strain, brought the hybrid back to awakeness.

The hybrid stood up, angry and ready to rip a throat or two, but she bounced off a barrier, unseen and slightly painful. Hayley rubbed the red spot on her chest, earning a half hearted smirk from the ancient lady. Elijah merely gave them both a stern look.

"Ladies, I have far too much to deal with at the moment to referee a cat fight," he said, bored and indifferent. "Please, retract your claws. There has been enough death here tonight."

The women both sighed and reluctantly agreed. Hayley sped off first, huffing and puffing, after seeing Elijah pick up the woman, intent on carrying her. When the hybrid was gone, they looked at each other, Elijah conflicted and forlorn, and the ethereal woman with an amber glint in her and a flash of a memory that disappeared as quickly as it came. A throbbing pain blossomed in her head, and she felt an urgent desire to feed. Her senses were slowly heightening, and Elijah's scent was more intoxicating than anything else she had experienced in her extremely long life.

They arrived at the compound in a matter of seconds, and Elijah moved through the halls with ease, setting her in a soft bed. They hadn't spoken a word to each other since the rippling effect had crashed through them, but Elijah worked endlessly to make her comfortable. He provided her with a nightgown, and brought her a sandwich and glass of water as she dressed.

Unfortunately, a turkey sandwich was not what she craved. It was unsettling to consider, but she had used Kol to amplify her spell, a derivative of the same spell used to make the Original vampires. She had used hybrid and vampire blood to pull her body from the brink of death, a state she had been stuck in for centuries. Everything about her would be different from then onward. She was still the most powerful witch in existence, but she was also a transitioning hybrid, and she would need to feed on blood eventually or she would die.

"I shall speak to you in the morning," said Elijah, pulling back the sheets from the bed. "There is much to discuss, but you require rest. I will advise my siblings of your presence. Sleep well."

She almost stopped him, but instead let him leave. There were so many warring emotions, and a desperate longing stealing her voice away. She expected that Elijah had started to experience something akin to confusion and resentment. The entire Mikaelson clan had been made to forget about her, how closely tied to them she had been before the change.

No, there would time later for questioning what had been unleashed with the ritual. She had more important things to worry about, and a transition to complete. There was something coming, something stirring in the city that she could not ignore, and what she desired more than anything, was to find a way to reunite with Finn.

…..


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

She woke to the warm glow of the midday sun, and the light itself shone in a kaleidoscope of color. It was bright, startling. It was beautiful, but painful to watch longer than a moment. The noise of the city, as well, was not helping the budding headache, and with a clenched fist, a sharp turn of her wrist, the shutters all slammed closed, allowing the room to fill with shadows and humidity. Hunger rose to the surface, a monstrous serpent in a turbulent sea, breaking through the cresting waves and roaring into the tempest overhead. The longer she went without completing the transition - without feeding - meant that this raw, desirous need would only grow stronger. It could take her over, and the destruction she would eventually cause would be too great to ever come back from. It would eventually drown her, bury her, and all that would be left would be a void of bloodlust.

Stumbling through the hallways of the large house, she followed the loud echoing conversation to a study. Her throat was burning and raw with hunger, the need to complete the transition her most urgent desire. She needed blood, but Life must respect Death, and Death must respect Life. She was a hybrid now, and her dual natures were warring on how to feed. Part of her desired to bury herself in the rich soil of a flowered field to re-establish a link with nature, regenerating from what life gives, and returning it in appreciation. The other part of her, the newly turned vampire, wanted nothing more than to drink her weight in blood.

"You collect trophies from all your victims?" echoed a raspy female voice from behind the study door.

"Letters to their loved ones to be specific."

Elijah. The male voice was most definitely Elijah, and the female, she recognized that voice, as well. It had been hundreds of years, but the voice was the same. Did that mean Dahlia was alive, as well? With both Dahlia and Freya, she may be able to reverse the vampire curse without expending any of her own energy, or completing the transition.

"It was a phase," said another voice, male. The breath caught in her throat, recognizing that voice, as well. It had been a thousand years since she had heard that voice outside of her dreamwalking. The only people she had been close to thousands upon thousands of years.

Outside the door, just around the corner, she leaned against the wall and listened as she regained her breath. Her limbs were heavy, her veins dry and burning, the dim light filtering through the dark hallways almost blinding her, and she felt considerably lethargic. The hunger was stronger than she ever imagined it would be upon waking, and a large part of her had to wonder how long had she been sleeping?

"A phase in which we were forced to learn a different kind of stealth," came Elijah's reply, drawing her away from her miserable existence for the moment. "You see, over time, Niklaus' enemies grew so numerous we had no choice but to artfully withdraw from the world. And then… Well, I wouldn't exactly describe our presence in this city as discreet, wouldn't you agree, Niklaus?"

"We all saw the white oak destroyed. Plus, this city was crawling with vampires, all of whom had no choice but to shield me from potential foes," exclaimed Niklaus, an arrogance in his demeanor that had never been there a thousand years before. Where once he had spoken in light and jolly overtones, he now spoke with force and self-entitlement. "Were I to die, they would die, too. I couldn't have been more safe! And now my sire link is undone. Those very foes will come for me, like never before."

Freya sighed, and the woman still breathing shallow in the hallway couldn't help herself from smiling, small and weak, at the witch's exacerbation, "It's only been a few days since the link was broken. Must you jump into crippling paranoia already?"

A few days. She had been sleeping for a few days. No wonder she was deliriously hungry. No wonder she was in so much agony. She either needed to get her grimoire back from Aya's sanctuary, or drink some blood. She would die soon.

"That's a default setting," quipped Elijah.

"And with good reason," said Niklaus.

Elijah replied, again, "Well, Niklaus, if it offers you any solace whatsoever, we've ransacked Aya's belongings, torched Aurora's hunting ground, and obliterated every last splinter of white oak."

"I would be mad to believe that."

"Perhaps you should see a therapist," challenged Elijah. It was gentle, subtle, but the intent was in the inflection of the word, 'therapist.'

Whatever it meant, the phrasing had the desired effect. Niklaus almost bowled her over upon his departure. He took in her appearance, the gray complexion, the blackening veins around her eyes, the hollowness of her cheeks. It flashed in his eyes, the understanding of what she had become, and what she desperately craved. He said nothing, save to dip his head in acknowledgement before disappearing down the hallway. The silent message had been clear, he remembered, and he was sorry. They would embrace later, of course. There was danger on the horizon, always danger.

It never occurred to her that he had sped off to retrieve a glass and fill it with his blood, yet he did, and then he left. She stared at the crimson contents until the urge to drink overtook her completely. She could do this. She could reverse it after finishing transition. She just needed to bide her time, gather her strength, and she could return to her natural state. Hopefully.

"'Every last splinter?'" asked Freya, her voice quiet, but holding weight, heavy with concern. "You sure?"

Elijah's response never came. Once she drank down Niklaus' blood, the burning intensified, filling her with new life, new power. It seared itself into her very being, solidifying the magic to keep her alive. She gasped, choking on every breath as she completed the change. The tumbler fell from her gentle grasp, shattering on the floor, but she barely registered that she had collapsed into the shards of crystal.

"Eve?"

There were voices, and hands shaking her. The scent of Elijah consumed her senses, and she reacted as he lifted her in his arms. Her nose was pressed into his neck, and her teeth sank through his flesh without resistance. Blood burst forth, Elijah moaning as her pleasure became his, relaxing into her control as she fed. It was glorious; the taste, the smell, the feel of bloodlust abating. Where she was drowning in raw, roiling agony, the maelstrom Eve soon receding. Her mind less driven by instinct, Eve grew conscious of what she was doing, and suddenly remembered herself.

She immediately wrenched herself away from Elijah. Colliding back into Freya, the women tumbled to the floor in a mass of tangled limbs. Breathing heavily, Eve extracted herself from her old friend, and pressed back against a wall, shocked at the ease in which she had overpowered an Original. She had almost drained Elijah, and twisted his pain into pleasure to ensure he did not fight back. It was horrifying to her, how easily she attacked him, a man who had once considered her a friend. She had never attacked another being unless balance and nature were threatened, and, still, never with such ease of violence.

"Eve," rasped Elijah, slumped against the wall opposite and just finished a small feeding from Freya. He looked apologetic, almost drowning in sympathy, but not pity. He didn't look angry or surprised, at all. "It will get easier, I promise."

Freya shook her head, watching Eve closely, "No… No, it's only going to get worse."

"She's right," cried Eve, wiping at the blood soaking her face. She felt hysterical with grief at what she had done to herself. It was agony. She could not exist as such a creature, it was simply not in her nature. "I have betrayed my purpose. The earth will crack and die. You'll all die. Everything will unravel..."

"I will not let that happen," said Elijah, as forcefully as he could muster. "Whatever you need, old friend. You need not ask."

"My grimoire," sniffled Eve, coughing on the sweet smell of blood surrounding her. "I need my grimoire, and I need to return to Mystic Falls. Everything I need can be found along the river… It hurts, Elijah."

He nodded, sighing. "I'm so sorry…"

"The blame is with Aya," said Freya, firm in her opinion. "Eve did what she needed. If she had stayed where she was balance would have been tipped anyway, and nature would have retaliated."

There was nothing more to be done. She needed rest, and to find her bearings in a world that she had watched evolve from behind a veil. The difference in her body would take getting used to, as well as the need to stretch her magical limits, her power. She would need to know if she had retained what nature had gifted...


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

 _I will not do to my child what was done to me…_

 _Eve's consciousness fell through hundreds of thousands of years of memories, as if she were being reborn, again._

 _Then came the unbridled fear as she was dragged from her little hut by the ankle, through the cold mists of early morning to a sacrificial stone slab. Screaming for help from the participating villagers, fighting to get free, she prayed for intervention, altruistic or divine. No one stood against Adam the Chosen, her husband by force, not choice, and watched as he went about sacrificing her to the gods. She had refused him, disobeyed him, and by the decree of the Chosens that came before, her life was forfeit to appease the gods and provide the head of the people with a more pleasing companion, or bountiful harvests before winter, or rain when the sweltering months had dried up the streams and the river stalled, stagnant._

 _The panic was overwhelming when she woke underground, choking on soil as she clawed her way to the surface of a field full of cowslips, primroses and dog-violets, close to the wide river and sacred circle. Under the full-bellied moon of the first morning of summer, Eve broke through to the fresh air and the wilting landscape exploded in vibrancy. The grass grew lush again, and the flowers stood a little straighter following a searing day abused by the sun. The moon shone brighter, and everything looked...more._

 _Aspects of life came into view that had gone unnoticed her entire existence. The fantastical creatures of early life were everywhere; faeries, gnomes, elves and mermaidens. Gods and Goddesses welcomed her back from the clutches of mortality, glimmering visions of magic and power. She had become one of them, a Nomad eternal, worshipped by the people of many different lands; the emerald hills of Ireland, the crisp air of the Scottish Highlands, the moors of England, the airy lands of the desert lands to the east, the lush banks of the Nile. There came the might of Rome, the wonder of Greece, the exodus of Egypt._

 _Civilizations rose and collapsed. Wars waged. Religion evolved in different cultures with the coming of Christ. Boats and ships flew over the waves to a new world. Whimsical beings faded and withdrew from the realms of mortals, and left behind witches and wolfmen to balance the scales. The sense of community and family, friendship and love spread through the world, and the wonder of daybreak glittering over the rivers, the chirping of birds in the trees, and flitting through the woods brought a life carefree and full of joy._

 _There were nights spent making love under the stars, or by a small fire in a hut. There were centuries of despair and loneliness, drifting from continent to continent, feeling as if a piece of herself had been stolen, yet unaware of what it could be. There were the centuries trapped in a glass coffin, living behind a veil between living and dead._

 _The soul-breaking pain of watching the man she loved die, again and again..._

It was unbearably warm in the room when Eve woke, staring at the ceiling dejectedly. So many years, so many memories, and true happiness had only been experienced for what amounted to a brief period of time. Being awake for barely a week had not helped ease the sorrow at knowing she had missed the last opportunity to reunite with Finn. Her heart was hollow, and she was burning with hunger for Original blood, again.

"Faith… The acceptance of which we imagine to be true, that which we cannot prove," whispered Eve, wiping the remaining tears from the corners of her eyes.

By the afternoon, she had settled in one of the studies upstairs with her grimoire. It wasn't long before Elijah and Freya found her there, nursing a cup of tea that mysteriously kept steaming whenever it grew too lukewarm. Curled up on a lounging sofa with papers scattered over the coffee table, Eve paid no attention to their discussion of family crisis. Absorbed in reacquainting herself with her grimoire, she flipped pages to skim her tight, slanted scrawl displaying more than one ritual per page. She had never been an artist, and the symbols remained rudimentary, functional. They were clean and concise, but there had never been a particular need for embellishment.

Klaus was the person to pull her out of her thoughts, barging through the compound and into the study, "It was him. It was Gaspar Cortez."

"Hm?" Eve intoned, looking up from her grimoire. Freya responded with more exasperation, "I assume this is someone from your box of letters?"

"The youngest son of a particularly vile family of warlords I dealt with in the 17th century," Klaus elucidated, pacing anxiously.

Elijah quirked his head, a slight tilt that was almost inquisitive, "Didn't they burn that Philistine pigsty to the ground?"

"Pigsty?" questioned Klaus, offended. "Belaga was my favorite artist's retreat. Someone had to pay for that, so I murdered Gaspar's brute of a father."

"And?" prompted Eve and Freya in unison.

"And one or two -"

"Five," corrected Elijah.

With an exasperated sigh, Klaus rectified himself, "Five of his bloodthirsty brothers."

"Don't forget the mistress," drawled Elijah pointedly, to which Klaus turned to him with a very serious look.

"That was an accident."

"The point is that Gaspar was but a footnote," said Elijah.

Klaus was quick to respond, "Until he became a vampire hell-bent on hunting me. He's a cunning deviant known to compel hordes of the helpless to aid him with his tasks. You see, this is exactly what I was concerned about. Devil's of all kinds crawling out of their crevices to strike at me."

There was a pause, brief if one counted such a stall in conversation only lasting a fraction of a second. Elijah followed with another tilt of his head, but Klaus spoke with a devious smirk, "Speaking of which."

Vampire speed always astonished Eve, having only her own means of instantaneous transport for so long, and also holding no interest into learning how to utilize whatever vampiric abilities had merged into her own being. The most she had done in the previous 24 hours was work trivial manipulations to feel the flow of natural power through her core and flex the weakened muscle, so to speak. The burst of natural force that had snapped Hayley's neck had come before Eve completed transition, and, since her abilities had been extremely weak.

Elijah followed Klaus, and then Eve and Freya hurried after them down into the courtyard, missing a few minutes of action and conversation. Grimoire tucked against her chest, Eve came up behind Freya, focus entirely on Davina and Kol, who stood with a smirk at being present in the flesh. She dropped the ancient tome without hesitation and rushed forward past Elijah and Klaus to embrace the younger Mikaelson sibling, a mixture of hope and joy bursting in her chest.

"Kol!" exclaimed Eve, throwing her arms around him in a close embrace. Resting her head upon his chest. "You're here."

"You stole the nexus vorti," commented Freya to Davina, cautiously and cool. Davina responded as a person on the defensive, "And brought your brother back from the dead."

"You should be thanking her, really," added Kol, still tangled in a fierce embrace with Eve, who finally released him to hug Davina.

"You brilliant witch," gushed Eve, pressing polite kisses to each of the young woman's cheeks. "Thank you."

The embrace between Klaus and Kol went unnoticed by Eve as she beamed at Davina, cupping the young woman's face. The little witch looked confused and nervous, uncomfortable, but allowed Eve to continue staring at her in pure happiness and wonder. For Eve, it was a welcome surprise to finally feel the genuine light in a mortal. Freya was tinged in frost and dulled by darkness, and it had been difficult to distinguish if it had worsened or lessened in the centuries upon centuries since Eve had befriended her in Europe. Since transition, Eve had found it difficult to feel the soul of any being through touch, or see their light through the windows of their eyes. She had felt disconnected from nature and life and humanity since breaking through the veil into the mortal realm, but with a slight flicker of what she remembered being a roaring inferno and rapidly flowing river. Davina was a warm light, hardly tainted, and brimming with potential power the young woman had yet to utilize.

Davina was her choice for assistance in reversing the transition.

"Hello, Elijah," greeted Kol, the brothers embracing. Elijah pulled away after a moment, and took in his brother, almost in awe, with a tone barely above a whisper, "You haven't aged a day."

Kol then turned his focus to Freya, "And you…"

"Freya," the Mikaelson sister answered. Kol nodded, "Right. Long lost sister. Speaking of twists and turns of our family tree, where might Rebekah be?"

The siblings in the know looked between each other, but Klaus stepped forward to break the brief silence, "That's a long story, and one reserved for family. Davina can see herself out."

Kol balked, defensively, "Are you -"

"As per usual, our family faces a multitude of threats," explained Klaus. "The sooner you become acquainted with them, the better. I won't have you distracted -"

"By Davina?" Kol cut him off, growing more agitated by the second. In that moment, something flashed behind his eyes, and Eve caught it, like a reflection. A mass of ghosts of the dead in his eyes, and she could feel the shift in him, as if he was being manipulated, or guided, and not by his own emotions. The brief whisper of something from behind a different veil, and it reeked of death. "You know, if you could only pull your head out of your -"

"Kol, it's okay," interjected Davina, diffusing the situation after catching the look on Eve's face. "I'll go."

Eve took the opportunity to get Davina alone, "I'll go with. I'm in need of a stroll and Davina's assistance."

"Really?" asked Kol, cautiously examining the tension in Eve and confusion in Davina. Eve simply nodded, picking up her grimoire from the ground and dusting it off to avoid eye contact, "Of course, sweetling. She brought you back from the dead. I have something that might be a challenge for her, if Davina is interested. I have quite a lot of knowledge in these pages."

"Yes, sure," agreed Davina with a shrug. She looked back at Kol, embracing him again, "It's okay. You can make it up to me."

While the young couple whispered their farewells and made promises, Eve leaned in to speak with Elijah, Freya, and Klaus, "Watch him while we're gone. Something isn't quite right."

"What do you see?" asked Freya, trying to keep her voice as low as possible, but Eve simply shook her head and took the keys from the witch's hands. "Are you sure about this, sister?"

Eve nodded with a smile, "Of course. Natural balance must be restored, and I was never meant to be...this. I was chosen for a reason, just as your siblings were chosen for a reason, and you were chosen for a reason. Besides, this will protect Davina. We'll be back in a few days, I promise."

It was soon enough when the two women were strolling out through the front gates of the compound and into the crowded streets outside. Protected with dark sunglasses provided by Klaus, Eve hooked her arm through Davina's and guided her down the street to the strategically parked SUV. They chatted, the grimoire safely confined in a purse that Freya had pilfered from Rebekah's things. Of course, some of the questions Davina asked were better left when safely inside a vehicle, or away from mortal ears, the oblivious humans who lived in a world of no magic, and no idea what true power could be.

As they neared the SUV, a novelty that Eve found offensive to nature, but marveled in the face of ingenuity of the mortal race. It was in a bout of silence that Eve finally divulged her true reason for joining Davina, "I need your help. I'm certain you've already realized… Offering to take a stroll with you was a ruse. I wanted to speak with you to see if you would be willing to accompany me to Mystic Falls."

"Why? You're a vampire."

"I'm more… like Klaus," Eve extrapolated, offering the young woman the set of keys as they stopped next to the automobile. "A hybrid, but I have to reverse it. I was never meant for this type of existence. I'm something… beyond mortal human reality." She took a hard breath and sighed, "There is so much that you have to learn, Davina, and so much that I want to share, if you'll let me."

Davina simply looked at the keys in her hands, and then back up to Eve with an exasperated look, but subsequently she acquiesced, "Where is Mystic Falls?"

"I think it is in a state they named Virginia," answered Eve, feeling hopeful when the young woman took the keys and pressed a button to unlock the doors. "I believe Elijah had the destination inputted into something called a GPS?"

Davina laughed, shaking her head, "Alright, as long as we're back soon. I just got Kol back."

"Of course," nodded Eve, confidently. "The ritual will only take one night. Unfortunately, I am not familiar with the means of transportation, and I am also not as strong in this existence… part god, part vampire, part witch...I will not keep you from your love, Davina. I swear it to you."

"I expect honest answers," said Davina pointedly, showing Eve how to open the door and walking around to the driver's side and starting the vehicle. "Start at the beginning."

And so Eve did...


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

 _Elijah…_

The blood was still traveling across the world map, all trails leading to New Orleans, even as Klaus returned to discuss the latest information, obviously with hackles raised and itching for a fight, like a cornered animal. There he was, the wolf in a panic, looking for an escape to protect his young, his family, himself. Options were being considered, routes planned, safe houses categorized and inventories, all in the span of mere seconds as Klaus paced, his mind a whirring machine of brutality and subterfuge.

With a sigh, Elijah spoke up, "So, this might only be a fraction of your potential enemies."

"In hindsight, could've been nicer to people," quipped Kol. "Or at least left fewer survivors."

"We don't know all their motivations," Klaus snipped, body a strung wire ready to break. "Half of these people could want to put the bullet in _your_ heart, end the sire war with the pull of a trigger."

"I have an army of devoted to keeping me alive," retorted Elijah. "The only people that care to protect you… Standing in this very room. As you well know, Niklaus, there is another way."

Freya joined the conversation, a bit shocked, "You're going to run?"

"There was a time when the name Klaus Mikaelson was little more than a rumor," the hybrid explained. "A shadowy figure who cast fear into the very bones of any who heard whisper of him. I don't run, sister. I disappear. And tonight, the three of you… Are going to make that possible."

There was nothing more to discuss by the tone Klaus used, and so they transitioned to how their hybrid brother, Hayley, and Hope, would disappear without very little trace, if no trace at all. It had to be done soon, as Davina and Eve were gone to Mystic Falls, much to Kol's chagrin, and thus preparations in the magical aspect fell solely on Freya's shoulders. There was no one powerful enough to protect the family, and to defend against Klaus' enemies, Hope needed to be safe. No matter if they all perished, Hope was of the utmost importance to everyone.

The hours passed, and darkness swept over the Quarter in New Orleans. Hayley and Klaus had departed with Hope, and security had been increased tenfold. Freya and Kol had taken to sitting in the courtyard by a fire discussing Davina's ingenuity and determination, as well as the return of Eve. It wasn't long before Elijah managed to fall into a fitful sleep, only to jerk awake before the first rays of sunrise.

The prophecy plagued Elijah, who had always been calm and calculating, but ever since returning to New Orleans nothing had been quite the same. He was more influenced by his emotions, and by his own personal feelings for Hayley. On some level, he could understand the conflict Eve had experienced since departing from Mystic Falls a thousand years prior. She had once been a beacon of balance, neutrality, and Finn had unearthed a different sort of light in her that shone brighter than her own purity and natural beauty. Where she had been cool, but welcoming enough, she then made decisions based on the pull of her own heart. Elijah had merely brushed on how difficult it was to think rationally when matters of love and loyalty were concerned.

"Are you quite sure?" asked Elijah, back in the main study after his brother had burst in that morning with an urgent matter, and they had been mulling over the information ever since it had exploded into the silence.

"I saw him with my own eyes. Finn must have come back when Davina resurrected me," Kol pressed on, unaware of the implications that would rock the foundations of the Mikaelson family, including the members no longer present. "The spell was tied to the blood of the Mikaelson line. Either it worked on him, or he found a way to hijack it. Either way, the only _how_ I care about right now is how long I'm going to make him suffer before I kill him."

"Restraint, brother," warned Elijah, thinking instantly of Eve and how she would react if her last opportunity to reunite with Finn was taken from her, again. "For now."

Kol continued to push the issue, unwilling to let go, "Why? Finn is clearly the one spreading rumors about missing white oak. He's luring Nik's enemies out of the woodwork. It's all part of his tedious revenge fantasy."

Freya chose that moment to enter, interrupting the flow of the conversation to interject her own opinion, while Elijah began kicking himself over the fact that he never taught Eve how to use a mobile device. Of course, he could contact Davina, but he doubted she would even pick up unless he requested Koll call. There was no reason for him to bother either of them, while Eve was mentoring Davina and reversing her own vampirism. It would cause a rift, and Eve had been adamant that she could no longer withstand being isolated from her true self.

"You're wrong," said Freya, crossing her arms over her chest defensively. "Those rumors began before either of you returned. Finn's innocent."

Kol scoffed, "Innocent? Pardon me, love, but Finn has tried to kill the rest of us more than once. He's an enemy of our family."

"Kol," warned Elijah, cutting the tension with one look. "Remember that there are those who do not feel the same as you."

"Kol, he is our family," said Freya, firm and gentle, but not forcefully. "Finn's return is an opportunity to mend old wounds and fix what's broken."

Kol, of course, refused to see reason, and Elijah was growing weary of the adolescent temper tantrum.

"He didn't drop a bloody vase!" snapped Kol. "He murdered me!"

Elijah focused more on Freya, at her certainty and immovability, "You see certain."

"Are you honestly siding with her?" exclaimed Kol, growing more angry by the second, as if he were a man possessed. Elijah was starting to see what Eve meant by needing to watch him closely, and approached as if he hadn't noticed the shift in his kin since being resurrected.

"Time and again, Finn has demonstrated nothing but contempt towards this family," Elijah extrapolated to Freya, wanting to make it perfectly clear that he wanted to believe her, but there were specific reasons all living Mikaelsons looked at Finn with caution and suspicion. "So, you tell me, how can you be so certain that he would return to us in peace?"

How unsettling and clandestine it felt that Finn chose that moment to reveal himself, strolling into the study with all the confidence he held as one of the admired hunters and warriors of their village centuries ago.

"Our sister knows me well," Finn said, flashing an overly cocky smirk. "Though perhaps you're right to doubt my intentions. By all means, let's discuss our family quarrels. I believe we're long overdue."

There was a silence that stretched on through the relapsing tension, and then all hell broke loose...


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER FOUR

"You're _the_ Eve? Like, Adam and Eve?"

"Yes, but the Bible was very wrong," answered Eve, much to the shock of Davina, who was only just turning onto what she called an off-ramp. "This was… during the days of the first civilizations hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of years ago. We lived in homes made of mud and clay and sticks and dry sweetgrass, and the sky was mesmerizing at night."

"So, Adam and Eve - you weren't the first of humans as we know them?" asked Davina, still very confused, but open-minded about Eve's history lesson. "There was no Eden, no God?"

"There is a garden, as I like to call it, but it would be easier to show you once I am myself," replied Eve. "Regarding your main question, no. I was of a generation a few centuries into the human race, but there were beings that had been transcended, or of a fantastical world in correlation with this one. The gods had always been mortals once, and were immortalized during death, born again for a purpose. There were creatures that are now only myths. The world was different, but in what used to be Gaul, men were slowly taking control."

"What happened to you? What's the real story?"

Eve sighed, looking out the window at the landscape passing in a blur, "Adam was… the head of the village. The chief, like a king. He fought a dozen men in the tribe to claim me, and the bloodshed did not impress me. Such a massacre, but he was Chosen, and the chief. I refused his hand, but he had killed his brethren, and blood had been spilled. I did not have much say in it, as a woman. I still fought him after the ceremony by the elders, refused his rights to my bed, refused his touch. It was a slight, unacceptable in a companion. So, he dragged me from our little hut during the night, the eve of the sweltering months...He sacrificed me to the gods for a better wife, a pleasant wife."

"And that is what the church based the Garden of Eden story on? You refused to bow down and be subservient to a man, and he sacrificed you for something better?"

"The story of Lilith, and the story of Eve," she nodded, wiping at the tears brimming her eyes at the memory. So much panic, so much fear, and yet she had been chosen by the gods, and not Adam. "He was the victim, and the woman - me - was then twisted into the sinner, the betrayer."

The younger woman huffed, changing lanes, obviously upset by the great lies of men through history, "Leave it to men to make women the ones in the wrong… What happened next? How did you come back from death?"

"Gods begin life as mortal, full of humanity," Eve explained, describing life then compared to the modern era. "There is a connection to something that burns inside them, and consumes them during death, so they are reborn in that image, for a purpose that was sparked inside of them. I felt a connection to nature, and the balance of all things. The sun during the day, the moon and the stars, life and death. Calm and Chaos…

"I remember the sacred blade coming down, unable to breathe, so much pain," continued Eve, almost reliving the experience she had dreamed about just that morning. There was a sense of surrealism, or residual agony that she wished she could detach from while speaking of it. She had never spoken of it to anyone save Finn. None of the other Mikaelsons knew how she had become a god, an Immortal, a transcended being of infinite power different from a vampire. "When I came back, I was in the earth and it was damp, cold. I was choking on… the ground vibrated around me as I clawed through the soil, emerging under the dying light of the moon and the first rays of the morning sun, and the world erupted into life when my fingers touched the grass above.

"My whole existence changed. Transcended, the first witch born of nature, martyred for independence," said Eve, sniffling. "Everything changed. Now the gods have vanished, retreated back into the ethereal realm with the other beings of the first days. I am the only transcended immortal left."

"You're… all alone," said Davina, a sadness to her voice. "How do you know the Mikaelsons?"

Eve sighed, again, vibrant memories flashing through her mind and bringing a sad smile to her lips, "Centuries before the vikings explored the new world, after the gods retreated, there arrived a collection of peoples from the true continent… wolf people, witches. We all settled in the vast lands of this Virginia. We lived in peace for centuries, but a new chief of the wolves rose to power and set about a war on my own people, the witches. We refused to fight them, and despite my infinite power, the alpha and his wolves came for me first during the full moon. He distracted me, while his vicious pups slaughtered the witches in the village.

"In the aftermath, amongst the carnage," Eve inhaled deeply, holding back the pain of feeling every single death. "I withdrew into myself. I left the village of wolves and lived a solitary life for… centuries. Almost 300 years. Then the vikings arrived, and among them were Esther and Mikael, and their son, Finn, I believe. I kept to myself for a long time, hiding in the woods and living with half of myself in another realm of magic and wonder, ready to retreat and leave man to ruin the earth I had maintained for so long."

"That's… I'm so sorry," whispered Davina, eyes forward on traffic and the setting sun. "So, if you were leaving the mortal world, how do they Mikaelsons fit in?"

"Esther, the mother," answered the immortal, an edge of bitterment to her voice. "She discovered me one day, while picking weeds by the river. She seemed welcoming, a fellow witch. Her children were grown then. I never went to the village, though. I could not fathom watching the devastation of another group of innocent souls to the wolves."

"I don't understand, then…"

Eve smiled sadly, "It was the first morning of spring. I had spent the night dancing under the stars, by a fire next to the river, caressed by the warm wind blowing from the south. As I ushered in the new season, a man emerged from the trees. Bare chest, splattered with the blood of a fresh kill, and… beautiful. He was mesmerizing. His soul was pure. I caught him watching, and I fled. He came back, every morning, hoping to find me again, and I hid, watching him, until suddenly I… stepped back into the mortal world and spring bloomed around us…"

Eve spoke about Finn as if he were a god in his own right.

The months of secretly meeting, the love that grew, the happiness she felt after being alone for so long. There were so many moments that she cherished, and she described them to Davina in whimsical detail. Memories were everywhere, but she tried to keep them in chronological order. The days spent chasing each other through the trees, the nights spent divulging their secrets, the first time they kissed, the first time they made love, the threats that came from Finn's father, and the disapproval of his mother, Esther. Despite having been welcoming of the truest witch, the Original witch, truly immortal and part of nature itself, Eve was still feared, misunderstood, and Finn's parents hated that she wanted to transcend him, as if she were going to take him away.

Eve explained how Esther had cursed the entire village to forget about her, erased every trace of her from her own family's memories. She told Davina about how she faded away from the majestic lands of the new world the morning before Esther turned her own children into vampires. She just faded away, through her garden - a pocket of space between realms that lived in eternal sunshine, spring in full bloom - and retreated to Ireland with its rolling hills and fields of flowers, all the green in the last land of magic.

There was the centuries she wandered, a nomad with no memory of love, but the feeling of heartbreak that remained ever present. She moved from country to country, culture to culture, following a pull, but never reaching the end of the path, no idea if it would lead to an end. That was how Aya caught her, almost killing her to utilize for a vampire's benefit, for a coven of budding witches to channel without ever knowing how, or where, the power was coming from.

Then there came the centuries of Aya's coven using her limitless connection to nature for the purpose of Aya, herself, and the Strix. Hundreds of years trapped between the living and the dead, unable to slip into the realm of the gods, or into her own garden. Eve had been forced to watch behind a veil. Remembering the love of her life, knowing Esther had finally succumbed to death, and unable to break free to find Finn. Feeling each of Finn's deaths and only able to watch as he passed through to the Other Side. There were so many veils between different living planes and the afterlife, none of which Eve could step through.

The trip was paused for rest somewhere in Alabama, the women sharing a hotel with two beds in a room that was deemed clean enough. By the morning, Eve had developed a tinge of gray in her complexion, and the hunger for Original blood was causing her quite a bit of discomfort. Still, she suffered without complaint, and let Davina set the pace for the journey. Despite her many years trapped in perpetual limbo, Eve remembered being human. Requiring food, sleep. Even transcended as an immortal god, or goddess, of witchcraft and nature and balance, that one aspect of a mortal life remained the constant, reminded her of humanity.

Eventually, after two days on the road, and the ever increasing, agonizing pain of hunger crippling Eve, the women arrived in Mystic Falls...


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX

Freya…

Mystic Falls…

The dead leaves of retreating winter marked every step of the trio through the woods of Mystic Falls, each footfall distinct. The air was crisp, on the cusp of spring, and the trees whispered to each other, as if there were some secret being passed from branch to branch. There was something in the forest that nature was keeping hidden, but Freya could feel it, like a ripple in a placid pond, spreading over her flesh like a warning.

Lucien was leading her through the naked underbrush and decaying leaves, her wrists bound together, while Vincent followed closely behind. It seemed as if they had all been stomping through the forest for hours, despite the fact that they had only been walking for less than 20 minutes.

"After all that flirtation, this is your idea of a first date?" asked Freya, panting.

"Think of it as a date with destiny, love. Though, I admit, three is a crowd," Lucien chuckled, glancing back at their traveling companion. "Vincent is a necessary evil, I'm afraid, here to keep you in check should you misbehave."

Vincent had already been on edge, but that remark seemed to ignite an inferno of indignation, "Yeah, you're leavin' out the part where I ain't exactly here of my own volition, man. Ancestors must have lost their damn minds."

"Quite the opposite," quipped Lucien, far too chipper for a villain. "I've never dealt with a saner bunch." He directed his attention back to Freya, a light touch on her arm that she shrugged off, "See, when I arrived in New Orleans, I made them a deal. Upon my request, they would grant me access to the Regent and in exchange, I'd provide for them a world without the Originals." He sighed, almost nostalgic as he continued, "Didn't take much convincing. They do despise your family."

Freya rolled her eyes, and Lucien pulled her a little harder than necessary along, grip on her forearm growing tighter and tighter, like a massive pinch. Still, she bit her tongue and remained silent, no longer desiring to further any conversation with him for the time being. As good looking and posh as Lucien was, intrinsically, proving himself the main threat to her family had ruined any chance for her to continue their odd flirtations. Besides, it was obvious she had been one of many ways back into the fold of the family.

With another sigh, Lucien broke the silence, slowing down as they passed from dense forest into a sparse clearing marked by a stone altar in the center, a ceremonial bowl carved into the top.

"We're here."

Ahead of them, Vincent was looking around at the way the small stone slabs and boulders were laid out in the clearing, as well as the large, barren section of what looked like the memory of a once great tree. An untrained eye would never notice the specific points marked about the clearing, the way the stones aligned. Freya noticed, and so did Vincent. Of course, neither of them knew exactly where such sacred ground resided.

"Yeah, but where the hells is 'here,' man?" Vincent asked, only to be met with a disapproving tut from Lucien.

"How disappointing," said Lucien, borderline exasperated. "Two powerful witches who cannot sense when you're treading on hallowed ground? Welcome to Mystic Falls…"

Realization dawned on Freya more quickly than it did Vincent.

"The place where it all began," continued Lucien, as if her were a showboating storyteller. "Where Esther Mikaelson created the vampire species. Under the shade of the infamous white oak tree, she crafted the spell that turned each of her children. And I mean to replicate that spell."

Nearing the cylindrical altar and bowl, rudimentary ingredients laid out around it, Lucien grinned triumphant, "I have everything I need to become what I deserve to be."

There it was, the recognition sparking in Vincent, "You want to become an Original."

"Do I look like the sort who'd settle for some shoddy Original model?" Lucien responded, thoroughly insulted by the mere mention of such a thing. Nevertheless, it passed quickly, as he turned to address Freya, "I intend to be an upgrade."

Freya wanted to laugh in his face.

As if she would help him become more powerful than her family. As if she would do anything for the little snake after the divisions he had caused. As if…

As. If.

"You are insane to think I'd ever help you craft any spell," replied Freya, trying to keep her opinions to herself.

"Oh, no, no, you misunderstand," said Lucien with a chuckle, again. "Vincent will handle the spell," he grabbed hold of Freya's handcuffed wrist, pulling her closer to the altar, "From you, I need something a bit more intimate."

He gave no warning of what he meant to do. He simply bared his fangs and ripped into Freya's exposed wrist, taking a little taste before forcing it over the stone bowl. She couldn't wrench her limb from Lucien's grasp, forced to let him drain her for his own gain...


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN

Arriving in Mystic Falls in the late morning, Eve and Davina had reserved a room in the town inn. Davina was set the task of taking what was called a credit card and grabbing something to eat, while Eve settled in the room, itself, drifting off in her sunglasses, the curtains all drawn. Despite the sheerness, the afternoon light was quite cool upon her face, and she slept more peacefully than she had in quite a long time.

Never hearing Davina return, they both woke to the blaring sound of an alarm clock on the nightstand between their respective beds. The numbers displayed the time at seven'o' clock in the evening, just before sundown. They had slept a beneficial six hours, but they had a very long night ahead of them. Mostly, Davina had a very long and exhausting night ahead of her.

Gathering drinks and snacks in a satchel with the grimoire, Eve and Davina set out towards the woods. They trekked to the river, and then followed it deep into the trees where the head spring was hidden by a set of waterfalls and northern hanging vines. Nestled not far from the cascading falls appeared Eve's ancient hut of mud, sticks and stones, cloaked from the world of man for a thousand years. It looked much the same, the roof missing most of the thatching of hay, wheat stalk, and sweet grass, but the structure was sound enough for shelter for one night.

"This was your home?" asked Davina, whispering despite them being too far into the forest to be discovered. "It's...small."

"Homes were built for shelter, not comfort," Eve replied with a breathy laugh. "Come, I'll show you."

The door was nothing more than thick branches from trees secured together in a rectangle by baked clay and strips of tanned pig hide, padded on the interior side by a thick wolf pelt that reeked of musk, but the fur was still wonderfully soft and impressively thick. Smooth stones were embedded in the ground, flat with ancient runes carved into the centers. In one corner stood a rudimentary altar of jagged rock littered with stacks of grimoires and spell journals made of parchment pressed between dyed animal skin, the books sewn together. There were also papyrus scrolls bound in thin leathers, and a set of mortars and pestles worked from granite.

A hearth could be seen near the opposite side of the stone hut, and not far away was the piles of massive animal pelts that had served as a bed, once cushioned by grass and straw. There were ancient tools of bone, rock and wood to be found here and there, as well as clay jars of what used to be herbs and powdered minerals. On one wall hung two perfectly preserved ceremonial dresses of rough woven cotton, still pristine and white.

With a fire burning in the hearth, Eve and Davina used flashlights to collect herbs growing from the banks of the spring head, including vervain growing from under the roots of a willow oak:

Liatris for the heart, happiness and light. River birch bark to protect against darkness and evil. Bluestem to relieve fever and debility. Witch hazel and Goat's Beard roots to rid the body of toxins and purify the blood. Vervain for strength.

Using an old iron pot from inside her former home, Eve filled it with fresh spring water and set it on a small fire to boil. She introduced Davina to old herbs, and the combining of magical and medicinal for specific rituals when forms of sacrifice were involved, or were being performed to pass through to another realm, or plane of existence. It was old magic of which Davina had never been taught, or experienced. She had been born into the practice of ancestral magic, an archaic form of witchcraft that allowed the ancestors to control the living. What was happening in New Orleans, and to Davina, was one of the many reasons Eve had always disapproved of the teachings. Natural practice blanketed all types of practice, incorporating them all, and with less restriction. Ancestral magic gave the power to the dead, and if anything could be said about the dead, it was that they should never be given the ability to rule over the living.

While Davina steeped the herbs and roots into a tea and wash, Eve set about making the large bonfire in which to smoke the remaining herbs and purge her body by fire, to purify herself and open the veil into the realm of gods. Ashka, Katjya, and Yhawar would be her best chance to reverse the spell used to break her out of the mirror plane, the pull out the vampirism that was like a slow-acting poison. Mortals could become vampires without issue, or ill effects, but she was transcended, an immortal god, and the transition into a hybrid vampire would kill her, eventually. And if she died, the world - nature - would die with her.

The bonfire was built like a funeral pyre, and it was finished three hours before midnight.

"Before we begin," said Eve as they left the freezing spring and donned the matching ceremonial shifts. "Your connection to the ancestors is a hindrance. We need to sever it, return you to the original connection of witch to nature. Sever the link, and the dead cannot control or punish you."

"That's possible? You can do that?" asked Davina, a spark of hope in her eyes.

Eve nodded, taking the young woman's hands in her own with a squeeze, "Clear your mind and open yourself to the sound of the river, the wind against your cheeks, the feel of the earth beneath your feet and the trees surrounding you. Welcome nature, and let me in."

Davina nodded in return, letting go of a deep breath and closing her eyes. There was no telling that Eve would be able to do it in her current state, but she had to try. Nothing could be left to chance, and if the Ancestors were in control of Davina, there was an increased chance that they would cut her off and prevent Eve from passing through to the gods, or returning to the mortal realm. Besides her own selfish reasons, Eve could vaguely feel how tormented Davina had been, was, by the Ancestors. They saw her as a traitor to witch kind, and it was going to create blockages that would bury her magic completely.

It started as a trickle of sensation, a flicker of a cruel chill, and then suddenly, with a great deal of effort on Eve's part, the ancestral plane was revealed to her mind's eye. The dead were all furious, ready to lash out and punish Davina, again. It took most of her remaining strength to create a barrier between Ancestors and Davina, while pulling at the threads connecting the young witch to the dead. Stitch by stitch, Eve ripped them out, until the link was weak enough to fully sever. The cutting cold of the ancestral plane was swallowed by the crashing waves of nature rushing in through Davina, bright and full of warmth. The current flooded Davina, filling her up with power, and then settling into a strong, steady cycling flow.

"I've never felt anything like this!" exclaimed Davina, breathing heavy. "I feel… free!"

"Nature is far more powerful, and freeing," Eve smiled, pained. She was weak, and the hunger for Original blood was roaring in her veins. "Now… The ritual. I need to teach you…"

"Are you okay?" asked the young witch, catching Eve before she stumbled into the small fire boiling the herbs. "Eve?"

"I'm just… very hungry," she panted, rasping. Her throat was burning, raw, desperate for blood. "I haven't fed in days, and… I can only drink from Elijah or Niklaus…"

There was no more discussion on the subject.

By the small fire, they sipped the steaming brew from the ladle like tea, setting the pot to the side to cool, and going over the subtleties of the First Language. Davina picked it up quickly, her inflections solid, and her dictation of the words fluid. With only a few minutes to midnight, Eve ascended up onto the pyre, lying upon the bed of withered herbs and dead vines. In seconds of Davina lighting the pyre, Eve felt the heat from below, and deeply inhaled the smoke rising up around her.

Opening herself up to the vibrations of the world, of nature, Eve clung to the dripping of warm magic, that instinctual, spiritual connection that once filled her entire being, and remembered how it felt. Davina started the ritual, dancing around the pyre and chanting repeatedly, the words echoing beautifully through the woods and up into the sky, surrounding Eve like a melodic hum.

Then she began to feel the faint prick of pain, burning alive, and with a deep breath of spiced smoke, Eve exhaled as she fell through the rippling veil into another realm…


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

Eve…

 _The eternal sun shone bright in a mesmerizing, blue sky, and the breeze was cool, playing with the blooming buds surrounding the crystal altar. Wisteria and honeysuckle had grown around the standing stones, flowers glittering with ever-present dew and swaying gently against the wind. The air smelled clean and sweet, like fruit and blossoms._

" _You come for our help," a voice echoed, an ethereal woman appearing in a glimmer of golden light. "What have you done to yourself, Evaya Ofelya, Daughter of All and Nature?"_

" _There was no other way to be free of that prison, Mother of Life," Eve replied, coughing puffs of smoke, a reminder of her link to the mortal realm. "Please…"_

" _Bring her to the sacred altar," called a deep baritone, like thunder before a storm. "Evaya must be reborn, as our blood and bone in the realm of mortal men."_

 _...the Sword of Death._

" _She is dying," came another voice, feminine and mellow. "We do not have much time."_

 _Light of the Moon, Sister of the Sun._

 _Pain. So much pain._

 _Everything faded to streaks of color and shadow as the Immortals began chanting, purging her body of the ill effects of her spellwork, and she spiraled through memories and reality until she was sitting in the backseat of a luxury car stopped before a railroad crossing..._

"Of course. Mystic Falls. Birthplace of all our sorrows," Finn said bitterly, his voice obtaining her full attention, despite the searing pain in her veins. "So, are we to drive around this entire pathetic town, hoping to run into my sister before Lucien murders her?"

Finn.

He looked so different, mature, well groomed, polished.

"Kol has a plan," was Elijah's response.

Finn scoffed, so unlike the man she once knew, "Kol and his ridiculous gambits -"

"Nine hundred years in a box," quipped Elijah, cutting through the start of his brother's diatribe. "Zero patience…"

She wanted nothing more than to reach out and touch him; caress his strong jaw, feel his hair slide through her fingers, gaze into his eyes and soothe away the centuries of his pain. He was so different, jaded. He was drowning in bitter resentment, and it brought tears to her eyes. What had happened to him?

"It's all a joke to you, isn't it?" Finn said, as if disgusted with his own family. " _Nine hundred years in a box,_ just rolls off your tongue as if the passed without consequence. I assure you, it did not."

Elijah sighed, "What are you suggesting? We never experienced anything. Least of all, the passage of time."

"Being daggered for decades, and being daggered for centuries are very different things. It starts off as a dim pinprick of light, growing brighter, year after year. A slow consciousness that I was paralyzed, entombed in my own mind… That despair… Utter loneliness… All amplified and made endless."

The sob caught her off guard, escaping in the rush of anguish for what Finn had endured, which was so similar to her own suffering. Of course, she could hardly compare to 900 years of imprisonment. She had spent less than half that time trapped by Aya, but it was obvious the pain and torment caused Finn deep wounds that would most likely never fully heal.

Reaching out to graze her ghostly fingers over the strained lines creasing his brow, the pain of sunfire burning the vampire curse out of her from the inside out. She screamed, the sensation of burning alive excruciating, "FINN!"

"Do you hear that?" asked Elijah, jerking the automobile in a sudden stop.

"Evaya," gasped Finn, clutching the firm expanse of his chest, just over his heart. He blinked, startled, and looked to Elijah with confusion, "Who is that? Who is Evaya?"

Eve screamed again, the pain growing in intensity as her translucent fingers turned to ash. The power vibrating from deep within her was suddenly unleashed from beyond the mortal realm, shuddering through the air, the ground - everything - while the ghostly echoes of her agonized shrieks rang through the town of Mystic Falls and the surrounding forests, a haunting sound heard by all.

Before she was pulled away from Elijah and Finn, Eve's fingers connected with her love's arm, and she would swear that he felt it…


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE

Eve…

Her mind was everywhere, and nowhere - in every living organism, the air, the rocks and soil, dead leaves and the bark on the trees. She filled the forest, and the forest filled her. The connection to nature, her element, ripped her apart and flung her essence to the dark reaches of the Earth, only to retract and thrust her back into the forest of Mystic Falls. She touched the core the world, every realm between the afterlife and the living, and felt the return of that balance, of life and death.

Eve watched as Freya whimpered from blood loss, and the encroaching chill in her bones as she was being bled out by Lucien into the ceremonial bowl situated in the stone altar. She could feel the witch's pain echoing through her own, as well as the fear of what Lucien was doing. It was like permafrost ice in the very marrow of her bones, spreading through her veins like ice across panes of glass.

"Okay," came the voice of an unknown man. "Okay, man, that's enough!"

It startled Eve, having been focused on Freya, and no one else. Lucien, though, took the man's shouting into consideration with the same pompous attitude of any entitled British aristocrat. "Hm… Right you are. That should just about do it."

Pushing Freya to the ground at the edge of the sacred circle, ignoring her grunt of pain. The unknown man kneeled at the blonde witch's side to help her, "Here, let me see it."

Eve watched Freya let go of a shivered breath and eventually show the man the vicious bite at her wrist. More than anything, Eve wanted to close the distance and manipulate the renewed flow of magic through her spectral form to heal Freya, but she couldn't move away from the altar. She had to pull her focus away from Freya, and follow Lucien, even if only with her gaze. It was discomforting, the inability to read a person, or decipher their true purpose. The centuries old vampire had always been two sides to a piece of parchment; unable to tell his motives from either side.

"Enough!" the devil in question snapped at Freya and the dark skinned male. The vampire went about the business of removing the lid from a small jar, ignoring the reactions of his audience. "There is a spell that needs doing, lest the Ancestors melt that precocious little brain of yours."

"What's that?" asked the unknown man, pointing at the little jar.

"It's not exactly need-to-know," Lucien waved him off, but Eve watched him pour the entire contents into the ceremonial bowl before removing a small notebook from within an inner pocket of his jacket, handing it to the man, "This part is all you."

Witch. The man was a witch. How she had not sensed it, Eve could not fathom. He was either extremely powerful and cloaked, or the Ancestors were controlling his magic. Finally able to pull away from close proximity to Lucien, Eve took in the ingredients to the spell and moved to read the notebook over the male witch's shoulder as he flipped through the pages. He skimmed through, until he found what he was looking for and began to tap the old parchment page.

"This is it," the man said. "This is the spell that created the Originals."

The first thought that ran through Eve's mind was agreement. It was the original spell to create the Originals, pilfered by Esther Mikaelson from Eve's grimoires. What had once been the ritual that Eve had confiscated from Qetsiyah, Esther had twisted into something far darker that unbalanced nature. The disruption had cut Eve to the core, forcing her to forge a new balance that took more than a century to complete. She should have reversed it, but deep down, she could not bring herself to do it. There was something stopping her, as if she knew that it would kill Finn, but she he was gone from her mind, stolen, and the void left behind was warning her.

"Took an entire coven ages to reverse engineer it," Lucien's reply cut through her thoughts, forcing her to focus on the happenings in the present. "And then I had to get my hands on this…"

 _White oak_ , thought Eve, watching Lucien lay the miniscule piece of wood on the altar.

"No," said the male witch, shaking his head. "No way, man. I'm not doing this for you -"

It was then that Eve felt them, the Ancestors, and she knew they were the reason she had not recognized the man as kin. They were controlling his magic, forcing him against his nature, and harming him in the instance of his uncooperativeness. He was cut off, crying out in pain from what the Ancestors were inflicting upon him.

"Well, seems the Ancestors beg to differ," quipped Lucien, smirking as the male witch whimpered from the pain until it ceased, his breathing evening out. "Now, get to work like a good chap."

She honestly had never enjoyed Lucien's presence, not once during the several introductions they had shared over the span of a few centuries. He was quite a slithering snake of a being, and she had always wished to sever his pinched head from his lacking shoulders. If only she could in her spectral form, trapped behind a veil as she watched the male witch begin the ritual. She almost screamed for him to stop, but her voice was stolen by the anguished shriek as the searing pain returned, and she was wrenched from the moment as the last of the vampiric infection was burned out from her body, the full force of nature crashing through, just as she crashed back into her original form, her body made new and whole...

Eve woke in the ashes of the ritual bonfire, clutching her chest tighter with each gasp of breath. She could feel everything, again. She was bursting with the heat of the sun and life, cooled by the pureness of the moon, the water in the river and flowing underground, the wind playing through the trees. It was as if she had returned home, the bareness of her immortal body and the ebb and flow as nature and its naked power settled in her bones.

"Eve?" came the tentative voice of Davina, before the immortal was jerked from the remnants of the pyre, coughing up clouds of ash. "It worked. It worked!"

"Water," rasped Eve, struggling to her feet and clawing at the lingering heat in her feverish flesh, as Davina grabbed the pot ladle and sprinted to the riverbank. "Burning… burning…"

Stumbling behind Davina, the immortal collapsed into the frigid waters of the shallow riverbank, drinking deeply and coating her naked body in dead leaves and pungent mud. She caked her flesh in it, mucked her hair in it, and covered her face in it, revelling in the chill that soothed the pain. She submerged herself in the water, until the air burned in her lungs, before emerging. Smudged in ash and mud, she crawled to the muddy bank as the poison blood of Elijah and Klaus was purged from her body.

Vomiting black, congealed blood into the layer of dead leaves on the forest floor, Eve felt the beginnings of a massive disruption to the balance of nature.

 _Lucien…_

"Eve?"

Groaning as the ache of balance tipping slowly increased in her bones, Eve rinsed her mouth with mouth with water from the river, spitting it out to rid herself of the acrid taste of rancid, congealed blood, "Grab my hand, Davina. There's no time…"

"Eve, what's happening?" The young woman sounded uneasy, scared. "What is that? Something feels wrong -"

"There's no time," rasped Eve, grabbing hold of Davina's hand once she pushed herself up in an unsteady stance. "Don't let go."

It was sudden, the sensation of being ripped from the living realm through the space between; the garden. Spring warmth and the scent of honeysuckle enveloped them both in a loving embrace, and was gone just as quickly, as the pair appeared behind Freya in a flash of bright, pale, golden light. Davina collapsed to her knees, retching into leaves and soil, while Eve watched Lucien kneeling at the altar to fill a vial from the ancient carved bowl. The male witch was off to the side, splayed on his back from the sheer power of the Ancestors channeling magic through him to perform the ritual.

The wind grew wild, whipping to and fro through the forest. The dead leaves of autumn were pulled into swirling pockets of air around the sacred circle, howling as if in agony as Lucien dared defy the laws of Nature. It stole Eve's breath, even as she dizzily stumbled to her feet to block Davina and Freya from the ancient vampire. Still covered in the film of muck, leaves trapped in her long, dark hair, dripping wet from the river, Eve leaned against the altar to face off against Lucien.

"I'm so sorry," whimpered the male witch, crawling over to Davina and Freya. "Freya, I'm so sorry," he repeated, glancing over at Lucien, "Can't let you do that."

Magically attacking Lucien, the man struggled to his feet as the vampire collapsed to his knees, shouting his pain. The power the man displayed caused Eve to take an unsteady step back, watching him stop the vampire from downing a vial of the ritual blood - abhorrent concoction that would allow Lucien to ascend from an ordinary vampire to something far outside the limits that Calm and Chaos could withstand. She was weak, despite the return to her original state. She was brimming with power, but the ritual had not been completed. Eve still needed to expel every last drop of Mikaelson blood from her body as the infection had been burned out, and she also needed to be buried in rich soil to rest, sleep, until the next full moon began to fade into glorious morning. Until then, the amount of power she could wield would be feeble, less than… miniscule.

"You're making a mistake," the man said, stopped by the Ancestors forcing through the divide to punish him, again.

With everyone distracted, Eve called both vials to her, a subtle force flinging them through the empty air into her trembling hands. Lucien growled, standing to his full height, while his gaze travelled up the length of Eve's bare, muddy legs, slowly taking in the shape of her hips, her nakedness, and pausing at her bare chest, before finally meeting her gaze. Rage flared to life in his dark eyes at the sight of his precious vials gently held in her dainty hands.

He pointed at her, tone dripping with acid, " _You_ are supposed to be dead!"

"No one has to die today," Freya interjected, throwing up a barrier between Eve and Lucien when the vampire made to lunge for the immortal.

Lucien fell back from the force of the barrier, chuckling, "Oh, sweet Freya… Today is the beginning of an awful lot of death. Starting with yours, I'm afraid." He had sidestepped Eve to drag Freya to her feet, tucking a lock of hair behind the witch's ear. "Truly, you and I could have been quite the thing."

 _What is wrong with me?_ Eve thought, urging her body to move, react as Lucien wrapped his hand around Freya's delicate throat. _I shouldn't be this pathetic..._

"Lucien!"

 _Elijah…_

Which meant Finn… Finn wasn't far behind, or he was already there, standing at his brother's side, and all she had to do was turn around.

"Oh, just in time for the party, lads," Lucien quipped, twisting in place to hold Freya in front of his body, like a mortal shield. He was at his tipping point, that much was obvious, by the way he forced Freya's neck to tilt, fangs out, ready to strike.

"No!" gasped Eve, a burst of power ripping through the air, separating the witch from the vampire, leaving Lucien trapped in the sacred space with the immortal. A barrier prevented anyone from crossing into the circle surrounding the altar. "No death…"

"Now, love," said Lucien, attempting to placate and manipulate her with a more congenial tone. "Are you quite certain you want to destroy both of those vials? Think of your _responsibilities_."

"My responsibility is to nature," came her reply. The glass of the jars began to crack, leaking out the infused blood as it boiled inside. "My responsibility is to the balance…"

"No," snarled Lucien, lunging for Eve. "No!"

With more strength than she could afford, Eve evaded the desperate vampire, the glass vials shattering as she released her hold. The defiled blood pooled in the soil, bubbling from heat, while Lucien scrambled on the forest floor to lick up what was left, glass and all.

"You were always a selfish little boy, Lucien," Eve breathed, fighting to stay upright. "You never understood the price of reaching too high."

In response, Lucien laughed at her, "You're weak. How wonderful it will be to eradicate you all from the face of this earth."

He caught her by the throat as she stumbled to the altar, but she had managed to set the remaining blood in the ceremonial bowl in an unbreakable barrier to prevent Lucien from gaining access to it. Also, to protect the serum from the intensity of the wind. The blood would need to be studied later, the last little dribbles.

"Still strong enough to end your existence," gasped Eve, slamming her open palm against Lucien's chest. He collided with the barrier, the force rattling her teeth, but she pushed the last of her energy into keeping him trapped against the invisible shield that separated him from the three witches that remained on the ground. "To upset the balance is to force my hand…"

The deafening sound of rapid gunfire rang through the air, startling Eve. The hold she had on Lucien was suddenly gone, and she was too weak to attempt to contain him. It was a shock, seeing multiple wounds blossom in crimson across Lucien's chest. She felt sick with the knowledge of what was to come. Collapsing against the strong wind, the anguished howling of nature itself, Eve coughed up the last of the Mikaelson blood, noting how it was tinged with swirls of glittering gold and glowing silver.

There were hands on her, rubbing circles into the small of her back, pulling her muddy hair away from her face.

"Hey, guys?" came a new voice, male, but unfamiliar. "We got a problem."

From where Eve kneeled in the bloodied soil of the forest, choking on clots of putrid blood, she looked up to witness the rise of Lucien. What little magically infused blood he had managed to lick from the dirt had provided the desired result, despite her tampering. The transformation had been completed, evident by the menacing fangs and glowing red eyes distorting Lucien's features.

Eve rasped, shuddering as another wave of nausea crashed through her, "The Beast has risen…"


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN

Davina…

Violence was prevalent in the span of seconds, and all Davina could think to do was protect Eve, Freya and Vincent. Erecting a barrier spell around the four of them, Davina continued to rub circles into the small of the immortal's lower back and moving up her spine. Finn and Vincent were healing Freya, which left Elijah to fend Lucien on his own. It was too much following the sharp pain in her bones when Lucien's plan succeeded, and nature was suddenly thrown out of balance. It was discomforting, and unnerving, to so quickly be connected to an endless well of magic and power, but also feel the shifts and upheavals. To be free of the Ancestors had been uplifting, as if weighted chains had fallen away and she broke the surface to a larger world. It was more power than she knew what to do with, but it was comforting and warm.

And then it wasn't, as if warning her of a threat. _Is this how Eve feels constantly?_

She had never been outside the French Quarter before, let alone the state of Louisiana, so the blond sheriff was unfamiliar, but he seemed to be holding his own. All Davina could do was watch and hold the barrier spell to keep the witches from harm. It was startling how easily she could hold it without a continuous chanting spell, and with less energy than when she had to rely on the Ancestors to allow her to use her gifts.

The sheriff didn't last for much longer, Lucien flinging him to the side as if he were nothing, when Finn broke through the barrier spell to attach the beastial vampire next. She felt it all in the roots of the ancient oaks, rattling her own teeth with each punch thrown. Lucien stopped Finn with something of an uppercut to the throat, sending the Original vampire to the ground a few feet away, gasping for air and clutching his windpipe. Elijah swung his fist with practiced ease, and Lucien deflected, sending Elijah to the ground, as well.

"Poor show! Poor show!" exclaimed Lucien, overly confident in his new form and overwhelming strength. "Come on, gents, you can do better, surely."

Elijah was the first to get to his feet and lunge, but Lucien simply kicked him in the torso, sending him back to the ground.

"What do you think, Elijah? This new power, it suits me, no?"

He was taunting the Originals, constantly bolstering himself as Elijah tried and failed to gain the upperhand.

"I've pondered this… Whom to end first?" Lucien poised it as a question, but it was obvious it what rhetorical as he continued to block Elijah's punches. "You, or Klaus? I had thought him… but now that I'm here, I think it should be... _her_."

Lucien's gaze was acutely focused on the group of witches, eyes narrowed on Eve's trembling, gasping form. He was pointing at her, and Davina felt the urge to shield the woman's nudity from his attention, the look in his eyes disturbing. It was a glint, something between hunger, lust, and murderous intent. It was stomach churning.

Tossing Elijah through the barrier, Lucien caught Finn by the throat and forced the Original's neck to bend, fangs glistening with venom ready to rip out his throat. For Davina, there was no love lost between herself and Finn Mikaelson, but she knew there was for Eve. It had been a conversation that dominated most of the trip to Virginia, but Davina knew that the immortal witch had spent a thousand years to be reunited with the man that held such a tight grip upon her heart.

" _Evaya_ ," Finn choked, his gaze locked on Eve, eyes glassy. "Eve…"

Eve sobbed in response, "Finn…"

"How touching," quipped Lucien, forcing Finn's head to tilt further to the side, exposing more of the Original's throat, fangs grazing across the width. "The reunion a thousand years in the making. _Love is such sweet sorrow._ "

Before Davina could throw her arm out and call Finn into the safety of the barrier, Eve had screamed, a sound the young witch wished to never experience again. It was brutal, an animalistic guttural sound overwhelmed with a deep well of anguish, like a wounded animal on the precipice of death, but filled with terror.

It was the sound of a heart fully breaking.

Lucien had plunged his fangs into the juncture of Finn's neck and shoulder, and Davina felt the venom in her own veins, like molten rock spreading slowly through her body. It was the sensation of nature tipping over into the abyss, balance usurped. Davina also felt Eve's pain, and Finn's agony, and the fear of everyone in the presence of Lucien's madness and bloodlust. It was overwhelming.

The wind was howling, causing the thick oaks to creak and groan, and the leaves to whip violently about. It was as if nature felt Eve's anguish deeply, and dark, ominous clouds manifested in angry claps of thunder overhead, unleashing a torrent of rain that pelted them all in harsh, cold waves. The ground shook with the force of Eve's upheaval, and power erupted through the air, suffocating everyone, pressing in around them all. That raw power twisted in the air, breaking the barrier spell Davina had erected around everyone and separating Lucien from Finn in a rush that threw the Beast backwards into the large trunk of oak. The vampire was embedded in it, obscured by an explosion of splintered wood, large chunks and small shards.

Elijah caught Finn as he fell forward into the splitting ground, and Vincent had grabbed Davina, pulling her back, away from the distraught Eve, who had forced herself to her feet. Catching sight of the immortal's face, Davina was shocked to see gold and silver fluid leaking from the woman's eyes and nose, mingling with the remnants of the putrid blood she had been vomiting barely minutes prior. The distress from before had contorted into an inferno of uncontrollable rage and righteous fury.

She was both awe-inspiring, and terrifying to behold.

"Balance will not side with you," Eve finally spoke, her voice like a roar of thunder over the howling wind. "Nature will not bow to you… Entitled, little...man."

Lucien was wrenched from the trunk of the tree, shrieking in pain as the splintered wood ripped into his sides, all with just a twist of Eve's hand. There was a tremor that travelled up her arm from where her fingers curled inward, nails cutting into her palm, as hellfire sparked to life at Lucien's feet. The flames licked at his ankles, controlled despite Eve's weakening state. The Beast screamed and shrieked at the pain, the flames burning through his expensive pants and eating through the flesh of his legs as they travelled further up to his calves.

"Eve!" shouted Elijah, pulling Davina's attention away from the immortal's display of power to the suffering of Finn in his brother's arms. "Evaya!"

It was enough to startle Eve from her focus of destroying Lucien Castle in a slow, agonizing way, and her hold on him dissipated as she looked to Elijah, wavering on unsteady legs. There was something wrong, Davina could feel it, and she knew that Eve could, as well. It was evident as the rage melted away, and fear strained through her features, silver tears streaming down her pale face.

As abruptly as the weather turned brutal and fierce, it faded away into an overcast sky and a bereaved drizzle. Lucien fled during the distraction, gone in an instant, but it was something to concern themselves for later. Eve was fading, unable to remain upright as she took one step and fell to her knees in the mud next to Elijah.

"Finn," the woman choked, sobbing as she reached out to cup the Original's bloodied cheek. "Please… Please, remember. I love you… Please?"

Fingertips alight with magic, a pure light untainted by the world, rested over Finn's heart until Eve's palm was engulfed in the light and it soaked down into the vampire's flesh. The pulse of the light burned bright in the man's chest, the rhythm matching time with that of a newly beating heart. Finn continued to gasp, shuddering as Lucien's venom worked its way through his body, fighting against Eve's own brand of magic.

In Davina's mind, there was nothing more to do. Lucien had performed a ritual unlike history had seen, and he was more powerful than the Original vampires. His bite was lethal, as she witnessed Finn Mikaelson fading quickly, struggling to stay alive, to survive. She had no idea how Eve could possibly save him, but Davina did know that the immortal needed to complete the ritual she had undergone…

"Ev - Evaya," came the sound of Finn choking on blood. "So...familiar… Please…"

"We have to bury them," Davina blurted out, as if the answer pushed through the depths of her mind and took over her body in that moment. "By the spring head, I'll show you! Come on, we don't have time to waste!"

Elijah was the first to spring into action, but Davina was grateful no one argued with her over it...


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Just a very short filler chapter to tide you all over while I perfect the reunion in chapter 12. Please don't tar and feather me! I'm sorry it's being dragged out. I had all these chapters outlined with dialogue from the show, and the most recent chapters have been a bit more free-form.

Chapter 12 is the reunion chapter!

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Freya…

Night settled over Mystic Falls like a sword swinging over their necks, the blade barely grazing anxious, worried flesh.

Davina had explained what the ritual Eve had undergone entailed, and the resting period was that of a full moon cycle. Longer than a single night, but the young New Orleans witch, free of the influence of the Ancestors, had promised them all that it should work - would work. They just had to wait out the first night, and see if Finn would rise, or if he would be resting alongside Eve until the full moon, which Freya was loathe to wait out. It was too far away, the full moon. One night was too long, but she would ignore the more pressing family matters to do so. She would not turn her back on Finn.

The day ran through her mind, repetitively, over and over in chronological order.

Elijah had balanced both Eve and Finn, one on each shoulder, and followed Davina through the woods, Freya and Vincent, as well as the local sheriff, Matt Donovan, struggling to keep up with them. It was a trek, but they finally arrived at the ancient stone hut by late afternoon. The young witch had shown them the place by the spring head that Eve had marked as her burial ground, enough of an opening in the tree canopy above for light to shine down on it, surrounded by wildflowers and the sound of the spring flowing down a miniature fall into the river.

Davina had worked on Eve and Finn, while Elijah disappeared in a flash to obtain shovels. He returned within fifteen minutes, and put Matt Donovan to work helping him dig a large enough grave. Vincent had helped, as well. Freya had refused to leave Finn's side, assisting Davina as much as she could, depleted as she was, and marvelled at the way the young woman simply knew which herbs to collect, how to prepare them, where to find the ceremonial blade in the hut.

Eve had continued to fade in and out of consciousness, hand returning to Finn's chest to feed light into him, but slipped into a deep sleep, unconscious, before Davina drew a blade through the supple flesh of the woman's palm. The same was done to Finn, and Freya had pressed the bleeding wounds together, hands flat, while Davina bound them together.

It was late in the evening by the time the grave was complete, and the entwined bodies of Eve and Finn were laid to rest. A simple spell, and Davina had the grave filled in within minutes, revealing the possibility that Finn may not rise until the coming full moon with Eve.

"Please, brother," whispered Freya, hands clasped together as she watched the soil of the grave from where she sat around a small fire near the old hut. "Please…"

Elijah had disappeared with the blonde sheriff to get food and supplies, but that had been some time ago. Davina continued to stir a small iron pot hanging over the fire, steeping a calming tea from the herbs that grew along the spring head and riverbank. Vincent had been close to collapsing, and had been shown to the hut to lay down on the musty animal pelts inside. Freya shivered in the cold night air, but was too fraught with fear to even consider resting. With everything going on with her family, as well as the threat of Lucien hanging over their heads, there was the ever-present need to get back to New Orleans and move forward in fighting their enemies.

Freya just couldn't bring herself to leave Eve and Finn unprotected.

There were many things she wished had happened differently. She wished she had never been owed in payment to her Aunt Dahlia and simply raised with her family. She wished she had known Eve more than a few passing spells and advice to protect herself against Dahlia. She wished she had found her family sooner. She wished she could stop the prophecy and protect everyone she loved.

She wished for a lot of things that would never come to pass.

All Freya could do was sit and wait for the answers to all her questions…


	12. Chapter 12

CHAPTER TWELVE

Eve...

The hunter waited by the river, every morning, waiting to catch a glimpse of her again. Ever since he had stumbled upon her during the night of the spring solstice, the man came back, again and again. Just waiting, patiently. His gaze always searching the trees for her, but Eve remained behind a veil, having already decided to retreat into the realm of the Gods and leave the mortal realm to be destroyed by men. From behind the glowing veil, she watched the hunter, the warrior, and as the days turned into weeks and winter remained, Eve stepped back into the realm of the living, bringing spring with her.

Life burst forth in the forest; trees erupting in infantile leaves lush with green, berry bushes filling out with ripe fruit, snow melting away under the sudden warmth of the sun. Flowers bloomed instantly, herbs broke through the once frozen ground, the ice in the river cracked and broke apart, and the hunter smiled at the sight of her, and her alone.

He noticed not the magic she wielded, the power that thrummed in her bones, or the life she breathed back into the world. He simply noticed her, as if he were a moth drawn to an open flame. Her breath caught in her chest at the adoration in his eyes, the way he reached out and touched her face to test if she were real.

"You are the most beautiful creature I have ever set my eyes on," he breathed, almost a whisper to himself. "A goddess…"

"Evaya," she said, tentatively resting her small hand against his cheek and offering him a timid smile. "I am Evaya…"

"Finn," he responded, matching her smile. "Son of Mikael."

He held her basket that morning, helping her collect herbs and roots and catch fish in the river, until the late afternoon reminded him that his family would notice his disappearance. He pressed a chaste kiss to the back of her hand, swearing on pain of death he would return the following day...

 _A dream in a memory, a memory in a dream…_

The ancient white oaks stood tall and strong, as they had for centuries, creating a canopy of lush green leaves full of life in the peak of spring. Sunlight peeked through, pockmarking the forest floor and providing warmth to the wild berry bushes and flowering vervain. The branches above rustled gently, and the breeze drifted through the trees, carrying the hint of something distinctly floral and sweet, like heather and honey. The only sounds that could be heard were the chirping of newborn birds, and the peaceful trickle of the springs flowing into the river.

There was a soft glow about the forest in the early morning, light catching drops of dew on blades of grass and clustered leaves of the underbrush, glistening on twigs and thorns.

The youthful woman flitted between the trees, long brown hair flowing behind her. Glancing over her shoulder with a beautiful smile, her deep amber eyes sparkled as a melodious laugh escaped the perfect petals of her lips. She was bursting with joy traipsing through the forest, followed closely by a strong man with dark hair and hazel eyes gleaming with happiness as he chased after her.

They were alone in her corner of the forest, free to be themselves, together.

Hair glowing in a halo of rose gold in the patches of sunshine, the nymph of a woman called out, "For one so tall, you are terribly slow!"

The young man laughed, full of warmth, "For that comment, I shall surely make you pay!"

"You'll have to catch me first!"

She shrieked, gleefully, as the man increased his speed and lunged for her, but she jumped out of his reach before even his fingertips could graze the sleeve of her arm. She raced through the forest, hiding behind the thick trunk of oak, peeking out to see the warrior rise to his feet and wipe the damp soil from his hide trousers. She took that moment, as he squinted against a ray of light searching for her, to take in the man she had grown to love.

 _Finn…_

A light tunic of airy, rustic material hung from his broad shoulders, covering the wide chest and torso of his upper body from sight. Hide trousers from a kill two winters prior hung low and snug on his hips, clinging to the thick trunks of his muscular thighs. His eyes were a mesmerizing color of rich browns flecked with forest green and stormcloud gray, set in the most appealing face she had ever laid eyes on. With a strong, chiseled jaw and tanned complexion from being raised in the sun and the wilderness, she had never imagined his was a face that would cause her a moment's pause. He reminded her of the roman statues of legendary warriors, cut from smooth marble and perfectly symmetrical, the epitome of strength and masculinity.

It was his blinding smile and open heart that stole her breath away.

"I see you, Evaya," called her warrior, that endearing grin spread widely across his handsome face. He started to run, closing the distance between them, and she shrieked again with uncontainable giddiness. "You shall not outrun me, sweet goddess!"

Sprinting off through the forest again, she reached the embankment leading down to the river. The warrior chased her down the slope, towards the rushing river, and caught her around the middle. They fell together into the damp ground at the edge of the water, laughing as the man turned her in his arms, holding her close. The breeze parted the lush branches overhead, allowing them to bask in the warmth of the sun, watching it reflect off the water like precious gems catching light. It was a sentimental moment, but one she cherished all the more deeply for its purity and meaning.

Covered in mud, sticks and leaves sticking in their hair, the couple inched closer and closer until their lips finally brushed together. The woman gasped at the feel of her love's tongue swiping over the petal of her plump bottom lip, warmth spreading through her at the intimate touch, and she opened her mouth to him with complete trust. With a moan, the man deepened the kiss, fingers caked in mud cupping her supple cheeks and rolled them, his large frame covering her smaller one completely.

"You have my heart, Evaya," the man whispered against her lips, his honest gaze burning into her. "Always and forever…"

Brushing her slender fingertips across his brow, the woman swept a lock of hair out of the man's face and tucked it behind his ear, smiling with a heart bursting with love for him, " _One word frees us of all the weight and pain in life...that word is Love._ "

"Do you give me your heart, also?" asked the man, brow furrowed in befuddlement.

A tear escaped from the corner of her eye as she nodded enthusiastically, pulling him down for another kiss, "Always and forever, my strong hunter..."

"My sweet goddess," he breathed, grinning in genuine happiness. "My sweet, sweet goddess."

Before their lips could touch again, they were wrenched apart, a fierce tug below their navels, and the sunlight and vibrant, thriving forest disappeared. Darkness engulfed them for a moment, and suddenly it was winter. She was alone in her hovel, a healthy, strong fire burning in the hearth. Plump snowflakes drifted in waves through the small window to her left, and she could see dusk settling through the trees outside.

Running a loving hand over the small outward slope of her belly, through a shift made of rough spun wool, Eve smiled and returned to the task of stirring small pot of rabbit stew simmering over a little pile of glowing red embers. It was bliss in her hut, tucked away in her own corner of the world, at peace with life. She only wished, more than anything, that Finn could there with her to enjoy the serenity of the moment…

 _I don't remember this… How could I forget such a thing? How did I forget carrying Finn's child?_

Darkness, again, and the violent jolting pull below her navel, then the world shifted.

It was early morning, the sun having yet to blink into existence over the tree. The embers in the hearth still burned with persistence, keeping the confined space of her hut warm against the retreating chill of winter. Turning over on the animal pelts, Eve sighed at the softness of fur against her bare skin and the safety of Finn's arms holding her close to his chest. His body radiated heat, cocooned in thick, spun wool and animal hides, and she melted into the curved of his hard body, head resting over his heart, while her hand followed the flutter of little kicks of their unborn children around the mountainous swell of her protruding stomach.

She could sense the identical heartbeats as her belly grew and winter waned. Twins.

"I can feel our children kicking me already," Finn murmured against the crown of her head, a groggy sort of chuckle rumbling in his chest. One of his large hands slid from her back, over the gentle flare of her hip, and rubbed over the tight expanse of her belly to soothe the rambunctious babes. "Our strong boys."

 _Boys… Our strong boys… Where did they go? What happened to them?_

"Elijah and Rebekah sought me out yesterday," Eve said quietly, unable to stop the easy smile tugging at the corners of her lips as she shifted in her lover's arms and nestled her head further up on his shoulder. "They seemed to be bursting with joy. Rebekah is overly excited to meet her nephews, and Elijah… He appears to have found a form of peace, but he is quite happy for us."

Finn sighed, "I fear what my father and mother will do if they discover -"

"You are a man grown, Finn Mikaelson," she interjected, gently, and no negative connotations to her tone. "What threats they impose are of no significance. We have shared our hearts, and we are creating life. We are stronger together than apart, no matter their opinions."

"I love you."

"As I love you…"

The moment was cut short, fading away, and then replaced by the sight of a village.

Finn stood at her side on the outskirts of the community, and they were greeted by the exuberant smiles of Elijah, Kol, Niklaus and Rebekah, the latter of whom shoved her brothers out of the way to embrace Eve and coo over the woman's pregnant belly. The Mikaelson sister, now a young woman grown, always gravitated to Eve's growing stomach, excited that there would be babes to dote upon, and genuinely happy for her eldest brother. Rebekah would always be considered her sister, such a warm and open soul with an extraordinary capacity for love.

"You glow more brightly as each day passes," came Niklaus' greeting, having wrenched Eve from Rebekah's attentions to embrace the woman respectfully. "Welcome, dear sister."

"Thank you, Niklaus," Eve responded, her voice barely above a whisper as she caught the murderous glare of Mikael from behind Kol. "I appreciate your warm welcome more than you know."

Elijah took his brother's place, as if there were a previously agreed order of introduction, and pressed a chaste kiss to her cheek, "Stand your ground, the both of you. We will not allow any harm to come to you, Evaya, I promise you."

"Many thanks, brother," said Finn, also eyeing his father with apprehension, but also a clenched jaw. "I believe we've kept them waiting long enough."

"Not until I've embraced my new sister," exclaimed Kol, pushing through with Henrik to welcome Eve, a mischievous grin etched into his young features.

It was a quick embrace, Kol and Henrik on each side. Mikael, their father, refused to wait another moment, and shoved his grown children out of his way to grab Eve by the wrist. He managed one mighty jerk that propelled her forward, away from the safety of Finn's proximity, and to her knees. The recently completed dress she had donned that morning ripped at the angle in which she fell, flesh cut from a jagged little rock in the ground. Finn was quick to stop his father, wrenching Eve's wrist from the Viking's grasp gently, before focusing completely on her and their unborn children.

"Evie, are you alright?" he asked, and she could see his siblings forming a barrier between Mikael and the couple. "Are the babes -"

"I believe I'll survive," said Eve, quietly, rubbing the ache in her wrist as he helped her to her feet. They both reached down and cupped her pregnant belly, as if to assure themselves that the babes were protected and healthy. She could feel them, the burst of movement as the twins wiggled and kicked, and Finn and she, both sighed in relief. "The cut can wait until after… It was a jostle, but we'll live, I promise."

 _This isn't right… These memories make no sense - I remember none of this..._

There was an ache, deep in her womb, but lower. Eve imagined it was just the impact and suddenness, and she did not want to worry Finn, or instigate further tensions between father and son. She could feel that she was close to her birthing date, and she had experienced a few bouts of false labor pains in recent days. She would not let it monopolize her mind at the time.

 _Why do I suddenly feel dread?_

The walk through the village blurred, and suddenly she was standing in the Mikaelson family hovel, a fire raging in the hearth. Finn's arm was protectively wrapped around her shoulders, a hand on her belly, while Esther stood to the side of the fire, stoking the flames and tending to the tea on boil, as Mikael raged. Finn's siblings were barred from the hut, forced to wait outside, but it mattered not. The entire village could most likely hear Mikael's threats with clarity through the thin walls of animal hides and rocks in mud.

"You will spurn her, or so help me, boy!" spat Mikael, thrusting his arm in Finn's direction, finger rigid as it pointed at his son's chest. "I will not have some demon spawn of hers -"

"That is enough!" shouted Finn, cutting his father off in his tirade. "Evaya is no demon! She is the first witch to walk this earth, and a gentle soul! You will not speak of her, or our children in such a way!"

"I will speak of this wench as I see fit!" bellowed Mikael, advancing on the couple. He stopped short as Finn stood between him and Eve, protecting her from his father's rage. "You turn your back on family for such a creature? Her?"

"Mikael," called Esther, employing a placating, soothing tone to break the rising aggression in her husband. "Let us discuss this with civility. Evaya, come. I've a calming brew for us to share."

 _No… No, don't drink… Don't drink it…_

Eve followed behind Finn, taking the proffered cup of tea, and blew across the surface to cool it. Mikael was delegated to seething in silence at Esther's side, glaring at Eve as she took a sip of the brew Esther had made, trusting that no mother would harm defenseless babies in the womb…


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: This chapter could easily trigger anyone who has suffered a miscarriage or a stillbirth. I just want to warn before anyone that has experience such a traumatic experience reads through this chapter.

Trigger warning. Trigger warning. Trigger warning.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Finn...

"There are realms aligned with this one," she paused, glancing away from the stars above to meet his gaze. "Fantastical worlds, realms of fire and pain… There are wonders beyond what we see and feel."

He had never met a woman such as Evaya, his sweet goddess… his Evie.

A beauty unlike any other, ethereal and heavenly, and yet still human, earthly. His gaze drifted over her feminine features, and the way her smile grew from a gentle tug at the corners of her lips to an enchanting sight. Despite the chill of impending winter, and the threat of his parents hanging over them each day, he could never stay away from her. A balm to his soul, she was in all ways. Her presence, her compassion, her knowledge…

Before he could hesitate, Finn leaned close and captured her lips for the first time. The petals of her mouth were warm, full, and she tasted sweet, like wild berries, smelled of cedar, herbs, and smoke from the fire - a heady combination.

It was bliss, and a sense of _home_ settled in his bones…

Darkness pressed in on the memory, the light shifting as her eyes faded away and sunlight blinded him. Confusion tainted the memories that came before and then followed, as if he were waking from a troubled slumber. He did not remember the woman that these memories revolved around. He did not remember the sight of her that first time in the forest, under the stars and the bright, full moon, dancing with budding flowers in her hair around a fragrant fire. He did not remember the subsequent weeks, returning to the site by the river near her hidden home, waiting for hours to catch a glimpse of her beauty. Nor did he remember her materializing through the withering rays of morning light, or the swiftness in which he fell utterly in love with her.

"We would live in happiness and love for eternity," her voice echoed, gentle and soft and as sweet as her smile. "Immortal witches - Gods in the world of men - serving Nature, maintaining the balance in the world, of Life and Death… We would never grow old, or die. We would be together, always and forever."

"Always and forever," Finn repeated, entranced by the sparkle of her amber brown eyes as she nuzzled the palm of his large hand. "That sounds like a promise."

"A promise I would never break," she answered, pressing a kiss to the warmth of his palm. "A promise I have never made to anyone in my long existence, Finn Mikaelson. Only you."

The birds chirped in the trees above them, and the sun was warm as the sweltering months dragged on. _Only you_ , she said, and he believed her with his entire being. He loved her, more than life itself. To be away from her caused him physical pain, and he wanted nothing more than to spend eternity basking in the peace of her smile and the goodness of her soul.

"Always and forever," he said again, tipping her chin up to meet his lips in a gentle kiss. "My sweet goddess."

"My strong hunter…"

The months of memories passed in quick succession, churning in his mind, stuttered by sharp pains that pierced his skull. It made no sense. Nothing made sense. Who was this enchanting woman he had loved so completely? How could he have forgotten her? What happened to them? What happened to her?

Darkness engulfed him, and he screamed into the void, unable to withstand the pain. He could hear the echoes of her screams, as well. Heart wrenching, guttural screams that twisted in his chest and ripped him apart. It was unimaginable how much emotion and pain could be heard in such a sound - that any being could make such a sound. It crashed through him in wave after wave of heartbreak as the memory bubbled up from the depths of his subconscious, and he did not want to witness it.

Evie was out of his reach, laying on the dirt floor of his family's hut and clutching the large swell of her pregnant belly, rigid with fear and pain. Blood pooled around her from between her legs, and the labor pains ripped that same wounded sound from her chest, over and over.

"Stop fighting, boy!" his father bellowed, shoving Finn out of the hovel. "You will never see each other again after this day!"

"Evaya!" Finn shouted, his siblings at his side as he pushed forward towards the hut, only to be stopped by his father, again. "EVAYA!"

"Not our babies!" he heard her cry from inside. "Please, don't do this! Esther, I beg you!"

It was the first time - the only time - Finn had ever challenged his father with violence, but for Evie, he would burn the world to protect her.

He curled his fist and pulled back, thrusting it forward with all his might. It connected with his father's cheek, and Mikael's head snapped to the side as he crumbled to the ground, unconscious. His siblings looked on in awe, or shock, but he didn't stay to gauge their reactions. He burst back into his family's home, and found himself colliding with a barrier just out of arm's reach of his love, the mother of his unborn children.

His own mother was preventing him from reaching her, his Evie…

Finn pounded against the barrier spell, shouting and screaming, pleading with his mother to save his love, save their children. His siblings gathered into the main room of their home, watching in silence and abject horror. Elijah and Niklaus beat their fists against the invisible barrier, as well, but none of them could break through the spell. Kol attempted to counter it, but to no avail. Their mother was too powerful, and she had grounded the spell to strengthen it against any who would dare disturb her work.

Evie screamed, again and again, as her labor worsened and Esther chanted, forcing the birth to quicken. Still, Finn pounded against the barrier, even as his first son was delivered into the world, stillborn. The pain that tore through him was like nothing he had experienced before, such animalistic rage and deep betrayal. When his second son was pulled from the womb before his time, also stillborn, Finn howled with the weight of such torment. That his father had ordered this, and his mother had done it.

Everything faded on the echoing note of Evie's anguished cry, and the sensation of his siblings embracing him from every angle, the sorrow that drowned them all...

Finn Mikaelson woke with choked shout, clutching his head, sobbing at the turmoil of his own mind. It was the most immense upheaval he had ever experienced, and he could not comprehend that he had lived an unnatural existence of over a thousand years never knowing, never remembering. How his mother could do such a thing and then cover it up, take his memories, and then act as if nothing had ever happened. It disgusted him, knowing he had spent centuries believing his mother was right.

"They need to be gone within the hour," came the sound of a familiar voice. "You all need to be gone. I don't want Originals drama in Mystic Falls."

"I promise, Matt, once they're awake, we'll be on our way," said a woman, also familiar. "Freya left me instructions-"

"Yeah, Hayley, I really don't care," said Matt, and the name and voice matched in Finn's mind. "Whatever she is, and whatever she turned Finn Mikaelson into, I just want them gone."

"Finn!" a scream sounded to his left, and Finn's eyes snapped open. Then the scream turned into a sob, "My babies… Our babies…"

Their eyes met with a simultaneous turn of their heads, and the sight of her, covered in soil and grime, hair matted, silvery tears trailing down her face, was enough to spurn him into action. It wasn't because she was a woman in hysterics, emotionally ripped apart. It was due to the fact that he remembered - he remembered everything. His sweet goddess, Evaya, mother of his children… his Evie.

It mattered not that he was crying, as well. They shared the pain of their murdered children, the agony and the never-ending betrayal of the lengths to which Mikael and Esther had gone to keep them apart. It was a pain that knew no limits.

Finn's hands found her filthy face, thumbs wiping the silver tears from her cheeks and smearing the soil, like mud, across the supple angles of her face, "Forgive me. Please, forgive me - If I had known… I should have protected you -"

"No," she interjected, fingers catching in his own matted hair. Shaking her head side to side, she conformed to the planes of his chest, pressing her forehead to his with a sob, "They… Our children… There is nothing to forgive. I should have known… I could have stopped it from happening, but I wanted to believe… I'm so sorry. Please… Please."

"We will never forgive them. I will never forgive them," Finn replied, wrapping his arms around her slender form. "Forever and always."

"It's been so long…"

"I know," he breathed, blinking against the first rays of the morning sun. "We found each other. We found our way back to each other."

They simply held each other as the sun rose over the trees, until their tears dried and the pain in their very souls eased…


End file.
